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4 Ways German Differs From English Posted by Constanze on Sep 25, 2019
Guten Tag! When learning a language, people often want to know how the target language differs from their own. Recognising these differences can be a very useful way to get to know and understand the characteristics of the language you are learning. So here are four ways that German differs from English! English has the…
Similar German Words: Stimme, Stimmung, stimmen Posted by Constanze on Sep 11, 2019
Guten Tag! Today we’re going to look at three words that appear extremely similar, but which have different meanings. It can be confusing to a language learner to see a word that you think you recognise, only to find out it means something else entirely. So let’s start with three words: Stimme, Stimmung, and stimmen…
4 ‘Untranslatable’ German Summer Words! Posted by Constanze on Sep 4, 2019
Guten Tag! As the summer draws to a close I thought it would be fun to see what words and phrases are used in German to describe summer weather, as there are several that are ‘untranslatable’ – ie. unique to the German language! Of course, these words can really be used at any time of…
Die Stunde Null: Zero Hour Posted by Constanze on Aug 28, 2019
Guten Tag! Today we continue on the theme of words that tell us a great deal about periods of German history. Today we are looking at four words, but the main one is this: die Stunde Null. Die Stunde Null translates to ‘the zero hour’, wherein die Stunde means hour, and null is the word…
German Wiedergutmachung (Reparations) Posted by Constanze on Aug 21, 2019
Guten Tag! Today we’re looking at the word die Wiedergutmachung. In 1953, the German government agreed to pay reparations to Holocaust survivors following World War II. This included anyone who was directly victimised by the Nazis in any way (it did not, however, include relatives/descendants of those people, for example). That is what the word…
German Phrases About Beginnings & Endings Posted by Constanze on Aug 14, 2019
Guten Tag! It’s nearing the end of Sommer (summer). September and Herbst (autumn/fall) represent new beginnings and the end of an era in several ways: The start of a new term at Schule (school) or Universität (university), the end of summer and the changing of the seasons as the leaves start to fall. This year…
Untranslatable German Words: Der Augenschmaus Posted by Constanze on Aug 12, 2019
Guten Tag! Today I’m bringing you another quirky German word that has no single-word equivalent in the English language. We call these words ‘untranslatable’ (unübersetzbar), even if there are English phrases that convey the same meaning. These ‘untranslatable’ words are fantastic at displaying the efficiency of German compound nouns. Today’s word is der Augenschmaus. What…